


Heartstone Pokemon Hospital and Help Services

by LoneWolf223



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awkward Sexual Situations, Awkwardness, Blood, Blood and Gore, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Roller Coaster, F/F, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gore, Hospitals, If I miss any trigger warnings let me know, M/M, Medicine, OC cast, OC characters, Past Relationship(s), Pokemon - Freeform, Pokemon Death, Pokemon Fanfiction, Pokemon Training, Pokemon Violence, Pokemon adoption, Pokemon daycare, Psychological Drama, Psychological Trauma, Romance, Serious Injuries, Service Animals, Smut, Trigger Warning: Animal Abuse, Trigger Warning: Death, Triggers, Veterinary Clinic, Veterinary Medicine, trigger warning: PTSD, trigger warning: animal death, trigger warning: anxiety/anxiety attacks, trigger warning: disabilities, trigger warning: family issues, trigger warning: psychological issues, trigger warning: suicidal thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-12 18:05:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5675482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoneWolf223/pseuds/LoneWolf223
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Heartstone Pokemon Hospital and Help Services has become a famous veterinary clinic for Pokemon in need, doing whatever it takes to keep Pokemon alive even in the face of death. However, while they work day and night to keep every Pokemon safe, the employees themselves endure their own stresses and difficulties.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heartstone Pokemon Hospital and Help Services

**Author's Note:**

> This is a re-write of the Shinnoh Pokemon Clinic and Help Services. I wasn't happy with the original way it was written and also got distracted by my Return to the Underground fan-fic which had taken all my attention away from this one I was so excited to start. I decided to start it over as a side fan-fic that I'll update every now and again, but is mostly a side protect for when I want to take a break from my other writings. I hope, none the less, you'll enjoy it. I stated in my Return to the Underground fan-fic that I have limited internet access and won't be able to upload as much as I'd like to, but I will upload a new chapter whenever possible. Thank you for giving this fan-fic a read and for giving it a chance. I know an all OC cast isn't what's preferable in fan-fics, but I wanted to make original characters in a universe that I believe is unlimited in what kind of people and places that could be in it. Canon characters from all Pokemon media types may make an appearance, but I'm not sure if I'll be doing it. Anyways, thank you for giving me your time to read it!
> 
> Some important info:
> 
> I will give a warning that this series might cause triggers because it will have sensitive topics throughout. Also, it will be very graphic when it comes to Pokemon injury/death as well as sexual encounters. While this one is primarily focused on drama between a large cast of characters, I hope everyone who gives it a read will enjoy it nonetheless. Thank you! 
> 
> Also, I will be doing a Game of Thrones style of chapters with each one being named after the character it will focus on most. This is a large all OC cast that will interact with each other, but the thoughts and story will focus primarily on the character the chapter is named after. This is why I chose to do this style of chapter names, in hopes it'll make it easier to keep up with each character. This will be a minor AU in a manner that Pokemon from all regions will make an appearance and the region the story is based in is purely made up and non-canon to the games/anime/mangas. Also, there will be no machines like in the Pokemon Center to heal them, it will be like a realistic vet clinic. I'd also like to give a quick thanks to my best friends who helped me make this possible!

           Panic surged through the enormous hospital, nurses in the main area surrounded something that made weak pitiful cries. People who had been waiting for their turn to see the veterinarian held their own pokemon close as the sight of the source of the cries made them tremble and fear for the state of poor creature making such horrific noise. The normally pure white tile floor of the waiting room slowly had an alarming amount of deep red blood oozing over it. The nurses surrounding the source of the cries and blood were talking to one another so fast that no one could quite understand what they were telling each other as the blood started to cover the front of their once pure white uniforms as they crouched around the poor creature.

           A girl, about the age of thirteen was crying out, “Slither Fang! Slither Fang!”, the young girl called with tears running down her face, clutching tight onto the purple body of the creature bleeding and making pained hisses and cries. “I’m so sorry!” she continued with a voice full of pain and regret, “I’m so sorry Slither Fang!” The nurses eventually managed to get her to let go of her pokemon so that they could work on whatever they could do at the moment. The girl stood back from the small throng of nurses surrounding her pokemon, watching with tears running down her face as her pokemon started taking shallow and shaking breaths along with threatening hisses towards the strange nurses surrounding him.

          One of the nurses turned to face a ditto with a badge on its chest that read: “Heartstone Pokemon Staff” on it. “Quickly, go get Dr. Adams. It’s an emergency.” Her voice was stern as she spoke to the Pokemon, but her eyes reflected fear that only made the little ditto realize how urgent it was. The nurses never showed fear in their eyes unless death was near.

          The ditto made a little cry and quickly changed its form into a Swellow and quickly took to the air, flying over oncoming nurses with ease. The shape shifting pokemon flew as fast as its form would allow, flying over patients and other nurses and veterinarians were remained blissfully unaware of the situation and dealt with their own concerns since an emergency announcement has yet to be made in the heat of the moment. Soon the Swellow reached the office of Heartstone Pokemon Hospital and Help Services’ star veterinarian: Dr. Amelia Adams.

           Her door remained open for moments just like this. The Pokemon flew into her tidy and organized office as she was dealing with a patient’s file, causing some of the papers to fly off her desk with the wind caused by the shape shifting pokemon. She had just re-adjusted her long chocolate brown hair into a tight bun when she saw the commotion happening within her office. Dr. Adams looked up with her bright green eyes to see the Swellow flapping its wings and making panicked cries in the front of her office. Her eyes widened when she saw the ditto, whom she personally named Hermes, had taken form of a Swellow. They had a system for their dittos that in time of emergency, they would transform into different bird pokemon to determine the direness of the situation and Swellow meant that death was at hand.

           Dr. Adams jumped up from behind her desk, “Shit! Show me!”

           Hermes gave her a nod and flew in her office to turn herself around and quickly darted out again to lead Dr. Adams to the spot. She weaved through the oncoming people and pokemon as she did her best to keep up with the speedy bird. When she entered the main waiting room, her eyes widened at the sight of blood staining the once white floors and the nurse’s uniforms as patients and pokemon alike looked on in horror.

           She quickly made her way to the nurses and asked, “What do we have?”

           The nurses looked at her and parted away to let her get a look at the pokemon in trouble. Before her, writhing on the ground was a large Arbok with large pair of deep slashes across its brightly colored chest. From the looks of it, the Arbok had been in battle with a Scyther. She knew that deep slashes like these didn’t come from sharp claws, but the sharp blades of Scyther’s arms, but she never jumped to conclusions in case her observation was incorrect, especially if the pokemon had a trainer. The trainer, most of the time, knows what happened and could inform her better then just having to relay on educated guesses. If she was correct to say a Scyther was responsible, then this Arbok was lucky to be alive at all.

            She watched as blood poured from the open wounds. With every spasm and squirming movement the Arbok made, more blood gushed out of the deep wounds. She could see in his eyes that he was scared, not only from the wounds, but from the throng of people surrounding him and a scared Arbok meant it would try to bite even if its receiving help. Arbok bites affect humans just as much as pokemon except if a human gets bitten its more likely the human will die before they could get the help they needed thanks to Arbok’s powerful venom and long fangs for deep bites, so they had to be extra careful with him.

            Dr. Adams turned her head towards the nurses around her without taking her eyes off the crying Arbok. Normally, her first order would have been to have one of the nurses put pressure down on the wounds to stop the bleeding, but in the state of fear that Arbok was in, her nurses were bound to get bitten by his long, poisonous fangs, so she had to play her next move carefully. After a moment of thought, she spoke up, “Two of you stay with me and one of you sound the emergency announcement and another go fetch a gurney, we're gonna have to get him to a room asap. Somebody else, go and prepare a room immediately in the emergency ward. The rest of you stay back, a Arbok in this state is dangerous, especially with so many people crowding them. Stand by, and wait until I call on one of you before doing anything.” The nurses obeyed her orders without question, allowing her to look up to see the small girl who shook and whimpered quietly. “Tell me what happened.”

            The young girl shook and forced her voice out of her throat. “I-I saw a wild Scyther and well...I wanted to catch him...I thought my Arbok could handle it.” Her eyes lowered to the ground in shame.

           “That was dangerous, wild Scyther’s never pull back in battle unlike trained ones. Most of the time, a Scyther engaged in battle can kill. You’re lucky he didn’t die right then.” She put bluntly, but spoke up again quickly with a more kind tone in her voice. “Luckily, by the looks of it, the wounds aren’t so deep any important organs were damaged, but he is hurt bad and has already lost a lot of blood.We can save him, but I’m going to need your help, okay? You’re the person least likely to get bit by him in this state. I’m gonna need you to help comfort him while we try to sedate him. Does he have a nickname?”

            The little girl nodded and stood firmer on the ground after wiping her wet eyes, looking stronger and more determined then she had been since her arrival, Dr. Adams’ words must have steeled her nerves. “Slither Fang.” she answered with her voice just barely shaking as she sniffed her nose.

           “That’s a nice name. Don’t worry, we’re gonna save Slither Fang.” She smiled towards the girl, making the little girl smile back with hope shining in her eyes though Dr. Adams wasn’t sure of Slither Fang’s chances of survival, but she kept that thought to herself.

           The nurse arrived with a gurney and pulled it up beside the Arbok, quickly pulling her hands back as it tried to bite her for getting too close. Dr. Adams realized they weren’t going to get Slither Fang onto the stretcher without getting some bites unless they had special help. Quickly, she turned to Hermes and asked, “Can you turn into a Rhydon for me? The armor of a Rhydon can’t be pierced easily by an Arbok’s fangs.”

          Hermes nodded and quickly changed its form into a mighty Rhydon and waited for Dr. Adams next orders. “Be very careful and help Slither Fang onto the gurney.” The Rhydon gave a nod and a grunt before reaching down to pick up the wiggling Arbok carefully. The Arbok hissed angrily as the Rhydon picked him up and tried to bite him several times, but no matter how hard he tried to bite, his fangs didn’t pierce through Rhydon’s tough armored body. Rhydon quickly worked the straps around his squirming body so Arbok wouldn’t fall or hurt himself while they were transferring him to a room. Even though the Arbok wiggled and writhed from the pain, the straps kept him firmly placed on the gurney, keeping him safe and preventing even more blood from escaping the wounds from his panicked movements.

          Dr. Adams ran through the halls of the emergency center while the two nurses and young girl beside her. One of the nurses rolling the Arbok down the hall, while the other did her best to try to keep pressure on the wounds, knowing that with Slither Fang strapped down, she could work with little fear of getting bitten her. The emergency announcement alerted all staff members who weren’t involved in the situation to keep the halls cleared while they searched for an available room in the emergency section of the office to work.

          A nurse, who was one of the first nurses to see what was happening, had prepared a room while Dr. Adams dealt with the situation. She had just came out of the door when she saw Dr. Adams moving quickly down the hall with the two nurses, young girl, and Slither Fang. “Dr. Adams, in here!” She called to her and quickly stepped back inside opening the door as wide as it could go to allow them inside.

         “Excellent, let’s get him in.” She replied once she was close enough and let the gurney inside first so the nurses could do their jobs while she prepared for her own.

         As soon as the nurses were inside, they worked together to get Slither Fang’s straps undone so they could transfer him onto the operating table, but as soon as his straps released him, Slither Fang started snapping his jaws at the nurses. One of the nurses, a pretty bleach blond with bright blue eyes known as Angela Harrison turned towards the little girl and gave her a soft look. “Hey sweetheart.” She spoke with a calm voice, “We need your help. Slither Fang is really scared, but your his trainer and he’ll trust you. You need to calm him down so we can help him.”

         The girl looked at the pretty nurse and gave a nod, “Okay, I can do that.” She moved to stand beside her Arbok and made sure that he could see her. The sight of the girl made Slither Fang move around less violently, but his eyes were still full of fear and pain. “Hey...it’s gonna be okay Slither Fang...” she started with her voice soft and soothing as she reached out to touch him. She placed one hand on the top of his head while the other rested underneath his jaw. Her hand stroked the top of his head soothing as she continued to speak to him in a soothing voice. “They’re gonna help you. They’re gonna make the pain go away...”.

          While the young girl spoke to Slither Fang, Dr. Adams quickly sterilized her hands and pulled on a pair of latex gloves to cover and protect her hands. Then, she used her key to open the cabinet with a sink at the far side of the room to pull out a syringe while the nurse who prepared the room returned with a small white bottle with clear liquid inside with a label that read: “Acepromazine”. She took the bottle and pushed the tip of the needle through the thin top. She pulled back the pump and allowed the liquid to fill just enough to sedate the fearful Arbok. When she took enough, Dr. Adams pulled the needle free from the top and tapped the side of the syringe holding the liquid with her finger and pushed the pump inwards a bit to see a small thin stream of the liquid escape the tip of the needle.

          When she was ready, Dr. Adams turned and faced Slither Fang as he was being comforted by his trainer. His struggling movements ceased as he became focused on his trainer’s words and soothing touch. She stepped up onto the other side of Slither Fang so he couldn’t see the needle in her hand. “I’m going to sedate him, it’s the only way we can work.” She explained as she lifted up the needle to show the trainer what she was talking about. “Keep him focused on you while I do this alright? He’ll fight once he realizes what is happening.”

          She gave Dr. Adams a understanding nod and kept on with her attempts to soothe her pokemon. The moment Dr. Adams put her hand on the Arbok’s side, Slither Fang tried to turn his head to see her, but the girl tried to keep his head towards herself. Dr. Adams pushed the tip of the needle against Slither Fang’s skin and started to push it inside. Slither Fang let out an angry hiss and tried to squirm away from the needle, but the nurses acted quickly and held down the rest of his body to avoid more injury. She quickly pushed the end of the syringe down quickly to push the liquid inside of his body and quickly yet carefully, pulled the needle away from Slither Fang.

          Within a few minutes, Slither Fang let out a few soft hisses as his body slowly stopped moving around before laying his head down on the gurney with his eyes closing. Normally, Dr. Adams would wait a few minutes to allow the drug to take full effect, but in this case, she would have to get to work right away and there were a few things that could be done as the Arbok fell into a deep sleep. The nurses helped Dr. Adam move the sleeping Arbok off of the gurney and onto the sterilized table to lay him down on his back. With his chest exposed for Dr. Adams to work, Angela politely asked the girl to wait in the waiting room while they worked. Even though the trainer girl showed hesitation in leaving her Arbok’s side, she showed herself out and closed the door to the room behind her while one of the nurses went to the cabinet to grab the things Dr. Adam needed.

           Dr. Adams wasted no time to work on Slither Fang, knowing well that the huge amount of blood he lost would make things even more difficult for them. Not only did she have to work quickly, but she couldn’t afford to make a mistake, because that one mistake could cause the death of the girl’s beloved pokemon.

           While the nurse was grabbing what she needed, Angela returned from the sink with a pair of gloves over her hands just as Dr. Adams had done. Dr. Adams started to put pressure on the wound and looked up to meet Angela’s eyes, “Start putting pressure on his wounds. The more blood he loses, the closer we are to losing him.” Dr. Adam instructed, not allowing her voice to reflect her ever growing fear of the poor creature’s fate.

          “Yes ma’am!” Angela replied quickly, pushing her hands down firmly onto the wound that Dr. Adams hadn’t covered herself.

          Dr. Adams watched as blood started to well up around their gloved hands, the wounds being so large that it their hands seemed to be doing little help, but any help at all could save Slither Fang’s life. The last thing she wanted was to see the look of horror on that trainer’s face when she was told that she failed to save her pokemon’s life. She knew exactly what the girl would shout at her: “You lied! You said you’ll help him! That you’ll save him, but he’s dead! Why didn’t you save him!?” and those were the words that scared her the most. While she hasn’t heard them yet in her four years as a veterinarian, she awaited the day when she would. Even as someone as good as their job as she was, in this profession it’s only a matter of time before you lose one and have to face the wrath of those who believed in you. That was what scared her more then anything.

           Her thoughts were shaken away when the nurse returned with alcohol, stitching needles, and thread. Wounds as big as Slither Fang’s needed a series of stitches to keep them closed, but by the looks of it, it would be quite sometime for them to heal completely. She believed that if they succeeded and he healed that these wounds would just become scars, but until then, she needed to focus on her hand movements. One mistake would mean that Slither Fang could lose enough blood to stop his heart.

           She used the alcohol around the wounds to kill any bacteria and wash away any blood surrounding them while the nurse fixed up the thread to the stitching needle. Dr. Adams carefully pushed the end of the needle into the flesh of Slither Fang as she began the stitching process. As she entered and exited the flesh, slowly pulling upwards so the separated pieces of flesh would slowly get pulled closer together until they could meet again. When blood escaped too much and covered the edges of the wounds, one of them would wipe it away without disturbing her. Stitch after stitch slowly allowed the ends of the flesh meet again, closing up the wound and keeping anymore blood from escaping, but only one had been done and while she was feeling more at ease, the process itself was long and tedious.

            Eventually, the second wound was closed tight with the stitches and Dr. Adams cut the remaining thread to finish her work. She took a deep breath and stepped back, allowing Angela and the other nurse to pull strong medical tape out and taped down Slither Fang. It would be sometime before Slither Fang would wake up again, but when he did, he would squirm and wiggle and with stitches in his wounds now, movement had to be limited. She hated having to tape down an Arbok to keep them from moving as much as they’re use to, but in this case it was necessary. Dr. Adams wasn’t sure if Slither Fang would even wake up from all the blood he lost, but for the time being, she did what she could. Now all they could do was keep an eye on him and wait to see if he woke up in an hour or so.

            Dr. Adams doubled checked her work for any flaw she may have made, but saw none. She took a deep sigh as she wiped a hand across her forehead. The Arbok looked stable for the time being, but there was always a nagging pain in her chest with every patient she worked with, especially the ones like the one before her. Her love and care for the welfare and health of Pokemon consumed her life ever since the day she got her veterinarian degree and the pressure was becoming harder for her to hold as each day passed. Dr. Adams did her best to hide her fatigue from others. No one needed to see her crashing down, not when she was the best the hospital had to offer and she became very good at it.

           “Keep an eye on Slither Fang while I’m gone. I have a few appointments coming up, but alert me the second he awakes. I want to make sure that what we did was enough for when he’s conscious.” She ordered Angela with a strict tone as she stripped her hands free from the bloodied latex gloves she used during her work.

          “Yes ma’am.” Angela replied obediently. Dr. Adams could see a look of admiration in her eyes as the nurse looked at her which brought a soft smile to her face. Angela was a good nurse and did her job well. While she hasn’t been working at Heartstone for long, she has become a popular member of the staff. Her pretty face along with her natural sweet and kind nature made her a natural at her job and made it easy for her to make plenty of friends on staff, Dr. Adams included. It was a pleasure to have her working here putting her natural talents to good use.

           Dr. Adams left the room knowing that Slither Fang was left in good hands. The nurses will take turns leaving the room to clean off the blood on their uniforms so the other patients wouldn’t be startled by the sight. The hospital made sure to have extra uniforms and showers for emergencies just like Slither Fang’s and Dr. Adams knew that the blood from the waiting room was long gone thanks to certain pokemon on staff that focused on cleaning duties.

          One of Dr. Adams’ favorite things about Heartstone was the pokemon staff. The pokemon available had either once been wild, but injured enough for the hospital to step in or abandoned by their trainers or caretakers. All the pokemon on staff have been given the choice to stay and work or leave the hospital to continue the life style they desire. While some do leave, there are others who stay and work just as hard as the human staff. They were taken care of with love and respect by the hospital. Each was fed, bathed, and loved on by both staff and patients alike and each one had a special role. Some would comfort and play with children while they waited for their pokemon while others, like Hermes, sent messages through out the entire hospital. Even some of the hallways were turned into large aquariums for water pokemon to swim in peace while also giving something beautiful for people to look at. This system started a long time ago, before Dr. Adams was even a veterinarian, when one pokemon refused to leave the hospital and ran around helping the staff where ever they were needed. It made Dr. Adams smile at the thought that one pokemon had influenced how the hospital would forever work.

           As Dr. Adams went through the halls, it seemed as though she was aimlessly walking down the series of corridors, but there was one place in particular she loved to visit, especially after emergency cases. In the center of the hospital, where all the halls seemed to meet, laid a large blood red ruby, naturally shaped like a heart surrounded by a cylinder of glass that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. It laid in the center of that cylinder of glass on a stone pedestal for all to see. A metal railing surrounded the display to keep people from touching the glass, but also gave a second purpose for people to lean against to while they stared at the beautiful gem. This gem was found a long time ago, before the hospital was even built yet and was given the name “Heartstone” because of its shape. The small village at the time thought it was a sign that their village would be a place of healing and protection, that it was the village’s destiny to dedicate to pokemon’s health and protection. Which lead to a small clinic being built and named after the beautiful stone. Then, as time passed, the hospital that was known now came into being and has been standing for lifetimes getting bigger and more advanced as time went on. Soon, the entire village has become a place where pokemon’s well being and happiness became the purpose of the village. Every store, every business in the village was focused on taking care of pokemon and raising them with love that grew bigger and better every passing year. While a lot of people thought the stone was a symbol of the village’s purpose, Dr. Adams always thought it symbolized hope. She was sure that the stone meant something different to each person, but to her, it was hope. As she stared at the stone, all fear and worry fled her body, giving her something to keep going even when she wants to stop. This place was probably the only place that truly gave her peace even while the rest of the world around her continued to be as busy as ever.

           A soft sigh escaped her lips as she stared at the gleaming stone, leaning against the railing with her arms resting against it. There was a particular set of footsteps that was coming in her direction, but she paid no mind to it until the footsteps stopped beside her. When she turned to see who it was, Dr. Adams smiled to see it was her friend Nicolai Christof, an intern at the hospital who had no role in particular other then being where ever he was needed. Nicolai was taller then her and was lean with lightly tanned skin. His dark brown hair was always a bit messy, but was manageable most of the time. His matching eyes always showed that he was happy and rarely ever showed any other emotion. While he had only been a intern at the hospital for a few months, Dr. Adams found him easy to talk to and became friends with him quickly. She always admired how he came to her without any intimidation from her in his being, most interns could barely look at her without feeling intimidated by her, but Nicolai was different.

          “I heard about what happened this morning. How’d it go?” He asked as he leaned against the railing with his back while his arms folded themselves across his chest.

         “Better then expected actually.” She answered with a tinge of happiness in her voice thanks to her friend’s arrival to further cheer her up. “I won’t lie, I thought I was going to lose him. There was so much blood and the wounds were so large I thought that we wouldn’t be able to save him.” Her voice turned more serious as she expressed her experience with the morning emergency.

         “Nothing the great Dr. Amelia Adams couldn’t handle though.” He grinned, shoving her playfully with his hand. “From what I heard, you handled it better then most would.”

         “I suppose.” She replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “We’ll have to see once he wakes up.”

        “How’s Katie holding up?” He asked, changing the subject after a few seconds of silence had passed them.

        Katie was Amelia’s daughter who just recently turned thirteen. While her mother was working, Katie went to school like any other child her age, but everyday afterwards, she went to the pokemon shelter to help out the owner take care of some pokemon that were abandoned, but didn’t want to stay at the hospital in attempts to find them a good home. Amelia was proud of her daughter, but even more so that Katie showed interest in the welfare of pokemon more then going out to battle with them like a lot of children her age. Katie even brought home a Purrloin, begging her to let them keep her. Amelia agreed and to this day has that same Purrloin living happily in their home.While the other children tried to battle each other on the school yard, she was trying to feed wild pokemon treats that she and her mother had made. However, Amelia was always worried about her. Amelia spent most of her time at the hospital, most of the time not leaving until late at night meaning that Katie didn’t get to spend much time with her mother. Her father showed no interest in spending time with her either. Amelia was once engaged to her high school sweetheart, but he broke up with her when he found out she was pregnant. He claimed that he wasn’t ready to be a father and left it at that. She was always worried that Katie would resent her own mother. Without a father around and a mother who was always busy, Katie barely got to have anytime with family and was often alone at school events most parents attended with their children. Amelia hated not getting to be there for her daughter, but her job just took too much of her attention.

         “She’s the same as always. Working hard at school and at the pokemon shelter.” Amelia answered with some pride in her voice, but a hint of sadness as well from her want to spend more time with her daughter.

         Nicolai seemed to catch on to the sadness of her voice, knowing exactly why it was there from all their past conversations. He placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly. “Hey, I’m sure you’ll get to spend more time with her soon. Maybe you can ask the boss to ease up on your hours here so you’re not staying so late all the time.”

         “It’s not the boss’s fault. She insisted that I stop staying so late, but there’s always something keeping me here one way or another. Maybe when the new veterinarian comes I can spend more time with her.” She replied and let out a frustrated sigh. There had been talk that a new veterinarian was coming to the hospital and Amelia was thankful for it. While the hospital had plenty of staff, the number of pokemon that show up each day seem to get bigger every few days and the hospital was definitely in need of more veterinarians because of it. She prayed that the new vet’s arrival would mean she could spend more time with her daughter.

        “Oh did you hear that there’s a new dragon rehab trainer coming here too?” Nicolai asked as he switched from leaning against the railing with his back to his side, looking at Amelia.

        One of the famous services of the hospital was the rehab services and the many reason why the hospital was so large. Sometimes they would get a pokemon whose so badly hurt or injured that they have to go through rehabilitation until they can live without assistance and each section of the hospital was focused on a certain type of pokemon with people who specialize in that type.The other day, a Meowth had come to them with a hind leg that was so damaged from a horrible human trap that it had to be amputated. That Meowth was one of Amelia’s patients, but the actual amputation process was given to the hospital’s famous surgeon Aaron Williams. After the surgery, the Meowth was sent to the section of the hospital that focused on normal and fairy types so he could learn to walk with only three legs. She had heard from the type specialist there that he was finally getting the hang of it, but would never be released back into the wild. He would either stay at the hospital or be released to the pokemon shelter until someone adopted him.This was another system the hospital thrived on and one of the many reasons their hospital was so popular.

         “No I haven’t. When are they suppose to arrive.” Amelia asked with curiosity as she pushed up against the rails and straightened herself up.

         “Sometime today apparently.” He answered, “They said his name though so we wouldn’t kick him out for tying to do his job thinking he was just some guy trying to play around with dragon types.”

         “Oh? Then what’s his name so I won’t make that mistake.” She asked, standing up straight now with her arms folded across her chest. “Tristan, I believe it was. Tristan Walthal.” He answered after taking a moment to think.

         Suddenly, Amelia’s expression grew from curious to pained. She hadn’t heard that name in so long that she thought that she might of misheard Nicolai, but when she asked for the name again, it was the same answer. Her heart suddenly panged with pain in her chest as memories began to flood her again. She knew that name too well and she wished that she would never hear it again, but it seemed that she was going to have to face something she never wanted to face again. Her eyes lowered to the floor and she became silent making Nicolai become concerned.

         “Hey, you okay?” He asked touching her shoulder again to grab her attention. “I’m not sure.” She answered honestly, barely even noticing that Nicolai had touched her shoulder.

         “I know Tristan...” She finished, barely able to speak the name without her voice cracking.

         “Really? From where?” He asked curiously with a bit more alarm in his voice after hearing her voice crack with a pained expression on her face. “Did he do something that hurt you?”

        Amelia sighed, finally looking up at Nicolai again. Her answer was clear and simple, but clearly hurt for her to say it as she fought to keep her voice from cracking. “He’s Katie’s father.”


End file.
